


Across the Pond (Sexual Healing Sequel)

by elliottripp



Series: Sexual Healing [2]
Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-20 06:31:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2418524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliottripp/pseuds/elliottripp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after the conclusion of "Sexual Healing," but with an unrelated plot. Cosima is finally graduating with her PhD from University of Minnesota and Delphine takes a sabbatical to accompany her on a celebratory European vacation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Doctor Niehaus

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how many chapters this will be. I have several ideas, none of them concrete, so as long as people are enjoying reading, I will go where the story takes me. As always, words of encouragement and suggestions are welcome and appreciated (and certainly help me write faster--wink wink).
> 
> Also, I really couldn't think of a good title. Any suggestions? Cause I will totally change it for a good one...

Delphine ran her fingertip along the edge of the program, searching for Cosima's name. There were hundreds of PhD students graduating this year, but thankfully each department had their own time slot so that friends and family were only made to sit through an hour of ceremony to watch their loved one cross in to doctorhood. Delphine was thankful for that system--they still had so much to do before their flight left the next morning.

Cosima's parents had flown into town a few days before, staying in the guest room of the apartment they had moved into the previous year. Finding a place of their own was one of the many ways they celebrated Cosima's clean bill of health. After her final blood work returned from the lab showing no signs of bodily distress, Cosima had trailed after the blonde all through the city, exploring each neighborhood and visiting just about every rental open house in a five mile radius. They ended up signing a lease at a two-bedroom, refurbished apartment in a historical building, just a few blocks away from the studio they had shared the whole year before. They loved the neighborhood, the restaurants, the proximity to work and school, and the neighborhood baristas already knew their drink orders by heart.

"Is it too much to have two bedrooms?" Cosima had asked on their walk home from signing the lease, their arms linked tightly together.

"Non, it is for when we have guests. For if Sarah and Kira would like to come and visit. Or your parents."

"You saying you want to meet my parents?" Cosima winked.

"Isn't it an American saying--when you commit to someone, you commit to their entire family?" Delphine threaded her hand through her hair, blushing.

"You saying you want a commitment?" Cosima had teased, poking her elbow against her girlfriend's ribs. _Her smile is too big_ , Delphine thought. _She looks too smug_. 

Delphine had drawn her face into a serious expression and paused her feet as Cosima continued walking quickly ahead. She watched Cosima notice the loss of her girlfriend beside her and turn on her heel to find the blonde. Delphine slowly sunk down into one knee, her face serious and tilted towards Cosima's. She watched Cosima pause, her expression flipping like a light switch from teasing to jaw-dropped. Delphine noticed Cosima's eyes widen in surprise, followed by a sharp, clean inhale.

"Delphine, what-"

"Mon amour, will you...wait one moment while I tie my shoe?" Delphine's smile cracked through the serious mask she had just barely held together, a laugh belting out after only a moment.

Cosima had rolled her eyes and reached down for Delphine's hand, pulling her back in close to her side. "Very funny," she had muttered. "Your boots don't even have laces." Their fingers grasped and played together, Cosima shaking her head with a smile on her lips. Delphine laughed to herself all the way home. She remembered feeling nothing but alive and in love at that moment, Cosima's warm, sturdy frame pressed against her own in the Minnesota spring.

A similar smile graced her lips now as she awaited Cosima's name over the loud speaker. Anticipation forced her eyes in a frantic search through the crowd of floppy, circular hats for a bundle of dark dreads.

"I see her there, on the far right," Cosima's father said, pointing towards the side of the stage. Delphine looked down the line of his arm and found her girlfriend's petite frame gesturing wildly to the classmate beside her. "She's coming up soon!" He grinned. Delphine noticed, not for the first time, how identical their smiles were. If she had not seen documented proof that he was not Cosima's biological parent, she would have sworn Cosima had inherited his smile--sans beard, of course. His shoulder-length grey hair was pulled back into a bun and his eyes were light blue and crinkled at the corners. 

"Theo, remind me how to turn off the flash again," Cosima's mom, Reena, nudged her husband, fumbling with the lens cover. Her hands shook with excitement as he pointed at a tiny lever. Once again, Delphine noticed the family resemblance. Reena's dark brown hair fell in tresses across her shoulders, and a collection of bangles clinked together at her wrists. 

"Just this switch here," he replied. Delphine watched him look towards the stage and her eyes followed suit. "Quickly, honey, she's next!" Delphine's legs lifted her body quickly, her heart bursting with pride as Cosima started on the stairs toward the stage. Her fingers rested lightly on her lips, tears burning behind her eyes. There was a time when all of this seemed impossible. And yet, here she was.

The voice over the loud speaker boomed, "Doctor Cosima M. Niehaus, PhD in Evolutionary Developmental Biology, magna cum laude."

The three of them erupted into ecstatic howls and yelps. Delphine's hands clapped together loudly, the graduation program folded in the crook of her arm. Reena snapped a few pictures as Cosima crossed to the center and paused. A hood was added to her robe, bright yellow popping against the black. She offered them a tiny wave and crooked smile from the stage, their volume drawing her attention easily.

They found her after the ceremony was over in the stadium lobby. Delphine drew her in for a quick kiss and wrapped her arms tightly around her love. "I am so proud of you, Doctor Niehaus," she whispered, with a quick nip to her ear lobe. Cosima pulled away slightly and bumped their noses together.

She pulled away only to be drawn in by Theo, his tall frame squeezing around both Cosima and Reena at once. "That hood makes you look like a wizard," he joked. "My sweet little girl, all grown up."

"Yeah, dad, I'm thirty..." Theo sighed and squeezed tighter for a moment.

Delphine's heart ached as she watched the display of familial love. She wondered how much they knew about DYAD. Cosima had decided not to tell them about the clones, but was still unclear about how much they knew, if anything at all. From what Delphine could tell from looking over Cosima's records when she worked for DYAD, her childhood monitors were mostly doctors, care givers, and, as she grew older, teachers and friends. That information was enough to inspire her lover's hope that her parents were truly just people who wanted a baby to love and raise as their own.

"Dinner before we head out?" Reena asked as they pulled apart.

"Absolutely, I'm starving!" Cosima slipped her arm around Delphine's waist and leaned in to her as they all walked towards the car.

At the restaurant, Theo and Reena continued their week-long streak of stories about Cosima's childhood, most of them aimed to make her blush in front of Delphine. The blonde laughed openly at the tale of Cosima's first pet, a frog she caught in a pond and kept in her room for a week without her parents finding out.

"I only noticed when I heard _croaks_ and _ribbits_ coming from under her bed while she was gone at school. I opened a box and there it was, staring at me!" Reena recalled, her hands miming the entire scene. Delphine eyed Cosima skeptically as she insisted that the frog was perfectly happy being her pet. Their palms rubbed lightly against one another under the table. Theo noticed and smiled to himself.

Back at the apartment, Cosima helped her parents gather the last of their belongings for the red-eye flight back to San Francisco. As they stood at the door, Theo squeezed Delphine close. "Take care of my kid, okay?" He mumbled.

"Oui, je te le promets," she replied. 

Reena fussed over Cosima one last time and pulled Delphine into a long hug before insisting that they would miss their flight if they stayed one second more. "Runs in the family," Reena joked, then shrugged.

Delphine and Cosima watched the tail lights of their rental car disappear into the night. They leaned into one another as they made their way back inside and up the stairs to their apartment. Each of their eyes drooped as exhaustion from the previous week finally had a chance to settle. They fell quickly into bed, Cosima still awake enough to remove her own pants and then Delphine's, with help from her lovers raised hips. She drew the comforter up over them and turned out the light. "Sleep well, Doctor Niehaus," Delphine grinned, her lips pressing a small kiss to Cosima's neck as she spooned her.

"Mm," Cosima pressed her face further into the pillow. "So sleepy. Our flight leaves in 8 hours."

"I've set the alarm already. I will wake you, mon amour."

They were each drawn from their quick slumber by an obnoxious beeping noise. Cosima groaned and flailed her arms, searching for the snooze button.

"We must wake up, Doctor Niehaus," Delphine grinned as she heard Cosima groan. 

"Too early," she stated. "And how long are you planning on referring to me as Doctor Niehaus?" 

"Forever. It is all I will ever call you from this point on," Delphine teased as she rolled out of bed. She watched Cosima grin happily, sleepily. She ran her hands through her hair and brushed cool water on her face in the bathroom. She reasoned with Cosima some more, bribing her with a hot mug of tea and eventually, the brunette was able to roll out of bed and pull on cozy airplane pants. They each rolled their suitcases down to the car and drove to the airport in a comfortable silence, each of them sipping on warm peppermint tea.

TSA was relatively uneventful. They sat at the gate, carry-ons at their feet and Cosima's leg draped over Delphine's thigh, her head resting on the blondes shoulder and gripping her arm.

At first, they each drifted in and out of restless sleep on the plane, leaning on one another's laps or shoulders, never truly under. For the second half of the flight, they talked about all of the things they would see on their trip, drew shapes on each other's palms and tried to guess the symbol. They half-heartedly watched a horrible airplane movie and passed the time stealing kisses from one another, brushing their lips together, bumping noses, and nuzzling cheeks.

When the flight landed in Paris, they found themselves exhausted once more, bodies stiff and achey. 

Delphine hailed them a cab and quickly explained directions to the hotel. Cosima licked her lips when she heard the hurried French falling from the blonde's mouth. She spent the cab ride tracing lazy circles over Delphine's knee and thigh, listening to the strength of her girlfriend's accent return with each mile until they finally arrived at their hotel.

It was a large old building with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the main lobby. Soft live music played from the corner, a string quartet humming a soft melody while people dined at the small restaurant to the side. The dim lighting was romantic and she noticed a few couples dancing on a small patch of floor next to the quartet. Cosima made a mental note to take advantage of the atmosphere in the near future.

They both stripped off all of their clothes and fell into the bed, just as they had the previous night. Cosima spooned Delphine this time, their bodies flush and stretched out along the length of one another. Her nose buried in Delphine's curls, she inhaled and smiled to herself. The last thought before drifting to sleep: _I have never felt more content_.

When the sun began flooding in through the curtains, Cosima's eyes twitched open slowly and an easy smile spread across her face. She melted into the naked warm body next to her, Delphine's breath coming out in smooth, even draws. One leg was straightened and the other curled against the bed, raising her hips and twisting her body back into Cosima's. 

Cosima tilted her head and brushed her lips against the blonde's shoulder blade, then lower, to the moles on her back. Her tongue gently traced them and made their way slowly down her spine. Cosima heard a sleepy groan from above and slowed her ministrations to more _brush_ than _lick_. Delphine drifted back towards sleep as Cosima drew down the comforter, revealing the small of her back the top swell of her ass. Her fingers trailed up Delphine's thigh, brushing lightly and teasing behind her knees. Cosima focused her lips on brushing over the small of Delphine's back and the blonde's hips began to move slightly, even as she slept. 

Cosima's fingers swirled in the hair that she found at the junction of her lover's thighs. She could feel the wetness collecting with each brush and tease, her fingertips circling closer and closer until she finally dragged her digits through her completely. She circled Delphine's clit lightly with two fingers. She didn't pause when the blonde let out a crackled moan. If anything, her teasing circles gained purpose and honed in on the hard nub, swirling over and over.

"Co-si-ma" Delphine whispered. She pushed her face into the pillow as her hips rocked against her lover's fingers with more purpose.

"Bonjour," Cosima growled, her lips still teasing the small of Delphine's back. She scraped her teeth along each dip, then down to the swell of Delphine's ass. Her fingers circled faster now, slick in the heat of Delphine's cunt. Her practiced fingers danced a rhythm she knew well against her lovers heated flesh. Delphine's hips knew the rhythm as well and twisted, grinding her hips against the bed, Cosima's hand trapped between and still working her over and over. 

When Delphine started to shake and thrust erratically, Cosima sunk her teeth lightly into Delphine's ass, nipping the skin there. Suddenly, the blonde arched her back, head thrown back to let out a long moan as her hips froze, then bucked, then froze again as her orgasm crashed over her. Cosima's hand continued to pulse against her lover's sex until Delphine twisted her hips away with a grunt. 

Cosima traveled up to place a calming kiss on Delphine's neck, cheek, lips. She was still in a sleepy, post-orgasmic daze, her head burrowed into the pillow. Delphine could do nothing but sigh bite her lip again and again. Cosima watched her for a while, dropping kisses whenever she felt the urge.

Delphine slowly opened her eyes to find a grinning Cosima hovered over her from behind.

"What a way to start a vacation," she sighed

"Indeed," Cosima hummed. "Though it's really only a vacation for me. You're on sabbatical..."

"Brat."

"You love me," she jested.

"More than anything," Delphine replied, twisting her upper body to catch Cosima's lips in a kiss. She sighed into the feel of her lover's warm lips and let their tongues run along one another. Suddenly, she felt a smack on her ass and Cosima smiled against her mouth. "Time to get up. We have a whole city to explore!" Her warmth left quickly and when Delphine rolled over, she watched Cosima's naked form disappear into the bathroom, dreads swaying gently against her shoulder blades. 

She sighed as she heard the shower spray begin and rolled from the bed to join her.


	2. Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delphine and Cosima spend their first day of vacation in the city of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this chapter is mostly smut and fluff with very little actual plot. Oops. Things are going to be a little more intense in the next city, for obvious Delphine/DYAD related reasons, promise.
> 
> As always, any suggestions, words of encouragement, and corrections to my half google, half newly brain-powered French is appreciated.

"This may just be the most French I've ever been," Cosima teased. She pulled another piece of buttery baguette from the small loaf in Delphine's hands. She leaned back into her girlfriend and felt a gentle kiss to the top of her dreads, which were pinned up in a bun. "Eating French bread with my French partner in France while looking at the Eiffel Tower. I'm actually not sure if there has ever been anything _more_ French."

"French kiss?" Delphine hummed behind her. Cosima tilted her head back and drew their lips together slowly, running her tongue lightly along Delphine's lips, grazing each other quickly. Delphine pulled away, her eyes opening slowly. "We need a picture to commemorate this very French occasion." 

She unwrapped her arm from Cosima's waist and asked a nearby tourist to snap a photo. In the first one, they were smiling; the second, a quick kiss; then in the last, Delphine tipped Cosima back into a dip, the tips of their noses touching as they smiled at one another.

"That last one is over-the-mantle material," Cosima mused, as they flipped through the photos.

"Shall we go to the top and have a look?" Delphine nodded across the cement to the large, infamous tower in the distance. They walked together, their shoes squeaking against the slightly dewey polished cement.

"I was just thinking." Cosima paused. The corners of her mouth twitched with a smile.

"Care to elaborate, Doctor Niehaus?" Delphine asked, popping the last piece of bread into her mouth. She crumpled the bag in her hand and slipped her arm around Cosima's shoulders drawing her close.

"That list that I made when I was sick..." 

"Mmm," Delphine hummed, her mind flashing back to their conversation in the rave parking area when Cosima was finally starting to become healthy. That was over a year ago. "I know the list you speak of. I believe we made a point of crossing off all that we could in our new apartment. I even did that one thing for you that I was nervous about, but turned out to be really good."

"Oh yes, I remember it well." Cosima growled. "That was a very, very good night." She paused, her eyes darkening and glinting at her love. "But the one I'm thinking of is location specific."

Delphine smiled. "Ahh, oui, I told you we would come here just to have sex in la Tour Eiffel."

"Aaaaand?" Cosima asked as they neared the back of the line. It was relatively short--a benefit of visiting in the middle of the week outside of tourist season.

"What kind of person would I be to deny the sexually explicit wishes of my ill girlfriend?" She stated nonchalantly as she tossed the crumpled bread bag into a nearby garbage can. The woman in front of them turned her head back, eyeing Delphine and Cosima suspiciously after overhearing the end of their exchange. When she stopped looking, they laughed silently to one another, feeling somewhat caught.

On the elevator ride up, Cosima stood with her back pressed to the wall as Delphine rested against her, her hips subtly grinding back into Cosima. The brunette tucked her hands under the hem of her lover's coat, splaying her cool fingers along slightly rolling hip bones. They drew no attention, the tourists around them chattering with excitement amongst themselves.

They walked around the observation deck, Cosima's hands restlessly pulling on Delphine's and asking about each view of the city. The floor was not as packed as Delphine expected--each group allowed a bit of space to move around. But there was certainly no privacy.

"And that's Champ de Mars, so the hotel is over there?" Cosima verified, one hand propped against the safety wire and the other pointed to the right of the large park. 

Delphine hummed her agreement and slipped her arms around Cosima from behind. "We should have lunch there." She popped open one button on the front of Cosima's red winter coat and slipped her arm in through the hole. She pressed the smaller woman in towards the railing to shield her actions from prying eyes. "Keep talking," she commanded.

Cosima cleared her throat. "Umm," she said as she felt Delphine pop open the button on her jeans and her lover's cool fingers slip inside of her underwear. "So... that means that the Notre Dame Cathedral is across the city..." Delphine swirled her fingers gently against Cosima, collecting the wetness she found there, teasing at her. "Umm, that way," Cosima half-heartedly pointed north east.

"Correct," Delphine responded, her voice calm and natural considering her fingers were now buried knuckles-deep into the brunette pinned in her arms.

"Tour Montparnasse is that tall dark building in the distance."

"You really did your homework," Delphine replied, watching the brunette's fingers curl against the chain link she was pinned against.

"Delphine," Cosima sighed, the pitch of her voice a combination of nervous and aroused.

"We are simply enjoying the view, mon amour," she stated, nipping quickly at the lobe of Cosima's ear.

"A little faster," she cracked, forcing her face to remain neutral and her hips still as Delphine ground her palm roughly against her clit. She felt Delphine's fingers move a bit faster, the tightness of her jeans preventing the speed her body craved.

"See the tall brown building with the clock at the top? To the left of the park?"

"No," Cosima replied her eyes fluttering closed at the pull of Delphine's hands inside her.

Delphine smiled and continued. "There is a market on the street below it I went to once as a child. They had the best macarons. I will take you later today." She felt Cosima's hand grip onto the arm that was slipped into the red jacket, her muscles burning to keep the rhythm. Cosima groaned and looked out at the panoramic view as the pressure in her groin finally exploded.

The orgasm hit her suddenly, excitement of possibly being caught moved everything along quickly. Delphine kept the smaller women standing upright as Cosima's knees collapsed for a moment, steadying her breath. She felt Delphine's fingers quickly leave her underwear and loop together the button on her pants and then her coat. 

"Check that off your list," she husked.

"Check."

"Come," Delphine smirked, pulling on Cosima's hands. "I want to show you the other side." Cosima followed behind her on shaky knees, a glowy grin on her face.

They mapped out the city together, Cosima attempting to pronounce each word after Delphine pointed it out.

"La Seine."

"Lah Seen."

"Les Jardins du Trocadéro," Delphine laughed.

"Les Jardeens do Trociderro," Cosima smirked as Delphine buried her face in the shoulder of her red coat. "Hey! It's not _that_ bad! It sounds the same to me," she grinned.

Back on the ground, they walked through the winding streets, soaking in the tightly-packed architecture, fingers laced together and swinging between them. They stopped at the macaron stand Delphine had visited as a child and took an assortment along with them in a fancy box. Cosima watched Delphine make light conversation with the shopkeeper, seeing the delight that speaking fast French brought to her. She tried to keep up with their exchange, realizing just how slowly Delphine must have been speaking to her over the past year of learning small phrases. They walked through the city, talking until the sky began to dim and they found their way back to the hotel.

As they entered the doors, Cosima noticed how the soft music filled the space of the lobby. "Dance with me," she asked, pulling Delphine towards the small area where two other couples stood, swaying together. She wrapped her arms around Delphine's neck and shifted her weight from side to side. Their eyes met and stayed locked as their noses bumped and lips brushed. The box of macarons hung from Cosima's wrist and brushed between her lover's shoulders with each sway. "My heart is so full right now," Cosima whispered.

As they entered the hotel room, Cosima's arms returned to their position around the blonde's neck. Her back hit the wall and Delphine trapped her there, running her lips down her neck and sucking lightly at her pulse point. Their coats quickly landed on the floor, then their shoes and clothing, all the while keeping one another pressed up against the wall. They each shimmied out of their underwear as well, groaning simultaneously as their naked bodies met after a day of heavy coats and scarves. Cosima guided Delphine to the bed and pushed her backwards, setting on top with the blonde straddled between her thighs. Their hips thrust together in an easy rhythm, their moans and sighs syncing quickly.

Delphine wrapped her hands around Cosima's hips, pulling their centers together with more force. Their efforts only served to build and tease, the angle not right for either of their release. Still, they rolled together enjoying the feel of their connection. 

Cosima reached behind herself, running her fingers gently through Delphine's hot core as she watched her lover's mouth drop open from the pleasure. She swirled her fingers over her clit and matched the persistent rhythm of her hips. Cosima watched Delphine trail a hand up her tanned thigh and part her as well. They entered each other at the same time, Delphine's fingers thrusting up from her pelvis and Cosima's arm working behind her, curling inside of her lover over and over.

"Oh, god, yes," Cosima whimpered. "I want to come at the same time."

"Together, yes," Delphine whined. They each pressed a thumb to the other's clit, pulsing against the sensitive nerves.

Delphine watched her lover's body enthusiastically bounce on top of her own. It was pure athleticism, each thrust requiring cooperation from nearly every part of her body. She remembered back to the evening Cosima had made her dinner for the first time since she'd returned from Frankfurt. She remembered promising that the brunette could do all the work during sex after she'd recovered. Though this wasn't always the case, it certainly was at this moment: Cosima simultaneously grinding down into her fingers and thrusting deeply into her cunt.

Delphine felt a surge of desire through her at this thought and, suddenly, she found herself at the edge, fighting off the impending orgasm until Cosima could join her. The brunette's grunts grew louder and her thrusts switched to a faster pace. "S'il te plaît, Cosima, I can't--"

"Oh, fuck, say it, Delphine," the brunette begged, her eyes taking over the bounce of Delphine's chest.

"Je t'aime, je t'aime, mon amour," Delphine replied. She watched Cosima's face go slack and her hips rock harder as she started her descent over the edge. Delphine stopped holding back and was quickly right alongside the brunette, their bodies bucking wildly against each other at their concurrent waves of pleasure. They rode each other as long as they could before their hips slowed to a still.

Cosima tipped over toward the bed, her hand slipping from inside Delphine with the change in position. She sighed and ran her dry hand along Delphine's cheek, and lips, and eyes, drinking in the flushed beauty of her girlfriend's face. Delphine removed her fingers from Cosima slowly, drawing them up to her mouth for a taste. 

"Hungry?" Cosima teased.

"Yes, actually, cheeky girl." Delphine turned and rustled in the bag that had dropped near her side of the bed. "Macaron?" She asked, holding up a small, pink cookie to Cosima's mouth.

"Oui," Cosima replied, taking a bite. "Mmm, très bon."

Delphine popped the rest into her mouth. "Maybe we will take a boat tour tomorrow. Go through the locks and see the city from another point of view."

"Totes! Whatever you want, I'm cool with." Cosima snuggled in to Delphine's side as she tucked away the rest of the macarons. "And then a train to Frankfurt the next day?"

"Yes, mon amour."

"Mm, I love adventuring with you," she yawned, nuzzling in. Delphine flipped the light and drew the covers over their shoulders, cocooned in warmth as they slowly drifted off to sleep.


	3. Frankfurt I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima and Delphine search for some sort of closure in a city Delphine hasn't visited in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to havuhadanosejob on tumblr for the help with French and general plot development. You are DA BEST.
> 
> I'll try to update this more frequently. You know... Life must be lived as well.

Delphine watched the hills roll by as the passenger train carried them quickly towards Frankfurt. Cosima's weight was pressed against her right arm, her head resting unconsciously on Delphine's shoulder. The smaller woman was wrapped against her so tightly that her hand burned and tingled with sleepiness. She flexed her fingers where they rested against Cosima's thigh and felt the tiny pin-pricks.

Their second day in Paris had been as wonderful as the first. She had taken Cosima around the perimeter of the city by boat and past a few childhood and teenage haunts. They had also walked past her childhood home where her parents still resided at certain times of the year. At Cosima's request, the blonde had let them in the front door to show her around. The house was just as she remembered-- everything in its place and scrubbed clean. Her childhood bedroom had been converted to a study, much to Cosima's disappointment. "Haven't you ever wanted to do it in the bedroom you grew up in?" she jested. Other than a few elegantly framed family photographs, Delphine's existence was nowhere to be found. 

Cosima did manage to find a stack of photo albums on a bookshelf and looked through them greedily, _awwww_ ing at images of a rosy-cheeked toddler Delphine, her wild hair refusing to be tamed. She had also belly-laughed at a photo of teenage Delphine, frizzy-haired, awkward, and gangly--a biology textbook tucked under her arm.

"What a nerd!" Cosima joked as she jostled the picture from it's place in the book, the dried glue breaking apart easily. "I'm keeping this. They'll never notice."

"Cosima!" Delphine had scolded with a smirk. "If you are going to steal, at least take a photo that is somewhat flattering!" She watched Cosima fold the photo in half and slip it into her wallet. 

"Why? I get to look at you every day. I want a photo of your humble, awkward beginnings." Her grin was wide as she leaned in for a kiss, her arms wrapped around Delphine's waist.

She knew that Cosima would be given many more opportunities to laugh at her expense in a few days when she would finally meet her parents. Their Parisian home was empty and spotless because they spent each fall since retirement at their second home in southern France. After Frankfurt, the Cormier residence was their next stop. She took a calming breath at the thought of them all together in the country with nothing to do. _Oh, Lord_ , she whispered to herself. 

Any nerves she felt toward that visit were quickly over powered by a fierce anxiety as Frankfurt came into view. 

The last time she'd seen the city, it was out the window of a plane headed for Vancouver. She remembered the flight well, her body exhausted from the mental and emotional aerobics of cutting ties with DYAD during the previous weeks. It was the only way she could return to North America, and the confidentiality component made everything especially complicated and high-risk. She had spent the flight oscillating between sleeping and sobbing--the weight of career and personal repercussions of leaving DYAD hitting her hard. 

At that time, she was certain she would be returning to speak to a headstone. If not yet, then soon. She had lost DYAD's resources for treating Cosima upon signing her last termination papers. But, it was the only way. It was Cosima. There was no choice, really. She had to be there.

For a moment, she let herself feel the pain of her past uncertainty, her heart jumping wildly in fear, her body tensing.

Cosima stirred beside her and tilted her head up to place a sleepy kiss at Delphine's jaw. "Almost there?" she asked, her voice still scratchy from sleep. Delphine felt Cosima's warm palm slide against her own, pins and needles fading slowly.

Delphine cleared her throat and reminded herself of her current reality. A healthy Cosima next to her, lungs free to flex and breathe how they wished. She held her girlfriend's hand tighter and breathed in Cosima's scent easily, her lungs mimicking the potential of Cosima's healed organs. Frankfurt grew larger out her window, zooming towards them quickly. Too quickly. "Yes, we are close."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"I couldn't. My mind was going too fast," Delphine confessed. Cosima ran her fingers over Delphine's palm and forearm, and felt the blonde relax a bit into her.

"Hmm. We could just stay on the train, ride it straight through to Austria," she offered with a crooked smile. Delphine's teeth worried her lower lip and Cosima struggled to reassure her. "We really don't have to go. I mean I was looking forward to _spreche Deutsch_ , but if it's too much to be here, I--"

"No, no, it's okay. We are here for a reason."

"Okay..." Cosima paused as the train pulled into the station. "You ready, then?" She squeezed Delphine's fingers with one hand and reached blindly with the other below the seat in front of her for her bag. Delphine simply nodded in agreement and watched Cosima sling her backpack across a shoulder. 

The air was crisp as they stepped out onto the platform. They made their way out to the street and hailed a cab to the hotel. This time, Cosima took the lead on directions for the driver, the simple German falling awkwardly from her mouth. "It's been a while since high school German class," she mumbled to Delphine.

"You should have learned French," Delphine joked.

"Tu es là pour ça." _That's what you're for_.

After dropping off their bags at the hotel, the two walked arm-in-arm toward their destination, stopping briefly for dinner at a street vendor. Cosima held the hard bun containing mustard and schnitzel in her left hand while her right wrapped around Delphine's bicep, squeezing gently against the fabric of her coat. The sky was turning pink with the lowering sun and streetlights flicked on as they walked along the sidewalk. They moved in silence, interrupted only a few times by Cosima's attempt at a joke to lighten the heaviness of the impending moment. Delphine offered her a weak smile each time, thankful for her girlfriend's lightheartedness, but still overwhelmed by all that was left unresolved. Cosima stopped after a few tries and rested her head briefly against Delphine's shoulder in apology.

"Just up here, to the left," Delphine directed.

"With the blue lights?"

"Yes, that's the one." 

"It's different than I imagined. Colder, more modern," Cosima observed. 

"Well, it _is_ the DYAD. Not exactly warm and inviting." Their feet slowed as they neared the front doors of Frankfurt's DYAD branch. Large glass windows and smooth, gray stone stared back at them. The architecture contrasted sharply with the intricate and ornamental designs of the neighborhood. _Build what they wish with little regard for what will be harmed in their wake_ , she chided.

"Aren't you worried someone will see us? Kind of walking right into the belly of the beast right now." Cosima's hand gripped tighter, the height of the building dwarfing them, shrinking them smaller and smaller.

"No." Delphine worked at her bottom lip quickly, then released it. "Aside from a few techs, not many people here know my face. And it has been years. I doubt anyone would remember the sad and pathetic immunologist who worked here for five weeks, three years ago." Delphine lowered her head briefly. She glanced to her side and found her girlfriend waiting patiently, her mouth slightly crooked with sadness."The DYAD employees who know my face are in Toronto." 

Cosima nodded silently, her lightly squeezing hand the only bit of comfort she could offer at the moment. "So, what did you want to show me?"

"I haven't told you much about my time here," Delphine began. "And with good reason, of course. When I first returned to North America, every bit of brainpower was aimed towards curing you, then your recovery, then building our life together. Dredging this all up after everything we have been through felt cruel."

"Delphine, you know you can tell me about anything. I want--"

"It's why I brought you here. Just--" Delphine huffed, "listen please!" Her voice came out sharper than she had meant it to. She turned towards Cosima again, her eyes softening quickly. "Sorry, I--"

"No, no, it's cool. I get it. Go on." Cosima waved the hand holding the rest of her dinner through the air, wiping away her interruption. 

Delphine tilted her head briefly and considered exactly what she wished to say. "This is where I was when I thought you were dead." She paused, the heaviness of her statement filling the air around them, displacing the oxygen for a moment. "I chose you, even when I did not know if you were still here to choose." Her hand cupped Cosima's warm cheek. "I would make the same choice each time over and over, no matter the circumstances. I want you to know that."

"I do," Cosima replied, her voice coming out mid-gulp.

"Okay," she smiled. "Come." She tugged at Cosima's hand and led them through a small entry way at the side of the building. The path led to a tiny garden, surrounded by the towering structure of the DYAD building, an enclosed park for employees only. The sky above them darkened still and cast everything in silver light.

Delphine found a small wooden bench toward the back of the grassy patch and sat at the far right side, patting the spot beside her. "I ate lunch here each day. Even as I was working through the termination and confidentiality paperwork, I found myself here, on this bench, every day."  
Cosima nodded, her free hand tracing a circle against her lover's thigh. Delphine plucked up the brunette's fingers gently and pulled her arm across her own lap, their faces coming closer together with the change in position. "Feel here." Cosima ran her fingers against the wood where Delphine held her hand. Tiny notch marks, carved into the side of the bench, left the surface rough to the touch.

"What is it?"

"Each day, I made a mark. I wanted to keep track of each day I was gone from you, each day you were surely getting worse and worse, and..." She trailed off. Their breath mingled as Cosima's fingers traveled again and again over each notch, counting. There must have been thirty, at least.

Delphine pulled Cosima's face the few centimeters remaining between their lips. She kissed her hard, teeth clacking and lips pressing roughly and frantically against Cosima's. Her arms wrapped around the smaller woman's shoulders, pressing their chests together and holding her there. She pulled away after a moment, her nose brushing lightly against Cosima's piercing. 

"I was so sad the last time I was here. Sad is generously optimistic, actually." Cosima closed her eyes and rested their foreheads together. "I needed to redeem it or something. I needed to come and show this bench that I am okay. That you are okay." Delphine's hands ran through loose dreadlocks, twisting a few strands. "I know it sounds strange." Cosima felt a warm, wet tear on the pad of her thumb as she brushed it across the blonde's cheek.

"Don't cry," she smiled. "I didn't die." Then, out of nowhere, Delphine felt a giggle rise from her chest. It started gently and grew quickly until her whole body was shaking, her hands still threaded through and tugged at Cosima's hair. Cosima joined her then, laughing until tears formed at the corners of her eyes as well. They laughed because Cosima was alive and they were at DYAD in Frankfurt and they didn't know what else to do with the heaviness of their history. They laughed because, somehow, they were here and healthy and three years ago felt like a lifetime and yesterday all at once. 

Cosima doubled over, pulling away from her lover, her dinner shaking with each jerk of her body in her fit of laughter. She pointed at the hard bun with her free hand and erupted again, the ludicrousness compounding at the thought that the street schnitzel had made it through the evening successfully in tact.

She stood abruptly and Delphine caught her breath, noticing the brunette's mischievous grin. "What are you doing?" she gasped.

Cosima laughed lightly and turned toward the building, its gray stone and black marble and perfectly modern rectangular glass shapes. She pitched her arm back and chucked her dinner. They watched the bun fall away to the ground and the schnitzel smack lightly against the glass, trailing mustard down in it's wake. 

"Cosima!" Delphine drew her hands up to her mouth, her jaw dropped in shock.

"I just wish we had a few cartons of eggs on hand," she joked, still catching her breath from their laughing fit. "Come on, let's get out of here." She tilted her head toward the exit as Delphine stood and folded their hands together.

They turned out of the entry way, their knees bumping in excitement. "Where to next?" Cosima asked. 

"The hotel, or perhaps a nightcap?"

"Combination of the two?" Cosima hugged her close, her grin pressed in to Delphine's arm where she rested her head. She looked up at the blonde and noticed her cheeks were still streaked from each type of tear that fell over the course of the evening. She watched Delphine's face form an easy smile, her teeth glittering in the light that poured through the glass DYAD walls onto the sidewalk. 

"Delphine?" a voice called from behind them. Delphine slowed her feet and turned, still holding into Cosima where she could. The figure moved toward them, the blue light silhouetting a small form. "Is that you?" A thick German accent.

Delphine froze and gulped. She could feel Cosima looking toward her, then to the figure, then back to her face again and again, her grip tightening against the blonde's arm. She stepped in front of Cosima, shielding her body from view as much as possible. 

"Delphine?" The voice called again. Cosima peeked around her girlfriend's frame and took in the curly red hair bouncing towards them. "I can't believe it's you!" She called. "I feel like I'm seeing a ghost."

"Moni." Delphine stated. "Hi."

"Who is that with you?" Moni asked, attempting to bend her vision around Delphine's shield. Cosima tugged reassuringly at Delphine's coat and stepped out from behind her. 

"Ehh, hi, I'm Cosima," she offered with a small wave.

"Cosima," Moni repeated back and reached out to shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

Cosima glanced quickly at Delphine, whose eyes were wide and bottom lip sucked up between worrying teeth. "Ehh, likewise," she replied. She dropped her hand away, then quickly found a resting place against Delphine's waist.

Moni stared between the two of them, her eyes glancing at the easy way Cosima's arm wrapped around the blonde's hips, and smiled to herself. "Please tell me this is the reason you left the DYAD. This is the one you could not bear to be away from?"

Cosima glanced at Delphine's teeth again, still biting at her bottom lip. In the distance, a car honked and broke up the silence made awkward by it's length and that there was seemingly no end in sight. Cosima cleared her throat and pinched at Delphine's waist.

"Yes," the blonde replied, finally. "Yes, she is."


	4. Frankfurt II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remainder of their time in Frankfurt after the run in with a DYAD employee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my buddy, havuhadanosejob on Tumblr, who let me pick her brain about plot and all things French. Once again, you are DA BEST.
> 
> Honestly, comments and encouragement play a big part in my motivation to write. If you are enjoying this, please let me know so that I can keep 'em coming quickly...

Delphine was not a freezer. She was a thinker. She acted out of logic and perfectly-calculated rationale. And she'd never had trouble thinking on her feet. Why, then, was she stuck, wide-eyed, staring at the DYAD research technician as though they were being held at gun point? 

Here they stood in front of the DYAD: a meddling ex-researcher of illegal human cloning trials and her equally meddling and defiant subject, created through the science of DYAD-patented genetic material.

She felt Cosima shift awkwardly from side to side next to her, the brunette's hand still pinching at her side. Cosima interjected, "We've, ehh, had a long day. We should probably get back to our hotel." She pulled at Delphine's hand and started walking backwards. "Nice to meet you, though," she called, and watched Delphine turn to trail behind her. 

"Wait! Delphine," Moni's heels clicked behind them. "I always wondered what happened to you. You just disappeared!" Delphine's feet slowed again, even as Cosima kept pulling her forward. "Do you remember me at all?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," Delphine replied. She turned and, once again, placed her body between Moni and Cosima. _What if she recognizes her face? What if she knows who Cosima is?_

"I thought you would," Moni nodded. "There were rumors for a while after you left. People were saying you were tampering with data and they fired you."

Delphine's hands slipped into her pockets to keep herself from fidgeting, from giving away her anxiety. She felt Cosima tug lightly at the back of her coat. "There is nothing to tell. I was transferred here on short notice and missed Cosima, so I quit to go back."

"Yes, that's what I thought," she replied, her lips drawn together. "But that day in the bathroom... you seemed so upset. What is the word? So...devastated?"

"I _was_ upset." _How much does she know?_

"Of course, it just...seemed like more?" Moni took a step forward and Delphine kept the distance by shifting backwards, bumping lightly into Cosima. She felt Cosima's hands at her hips, soothing and tugging at the same time. 

"I--" she paused. Cosima watched Delphine shake her head to the side, as if she was willing herself to stop talking, to prevent saying too much.

Delphine felt Cosima step to the side again, wrapping a protective arm around her waist. "Moni, like I said, we really gotta go. Enjoy the rest of your night," she smiled, and offered a small wave.

"Yes, Cosima, of course. Pleasure to meet you." She nodded and shoved her hand in her purse, digging to the bottom. She let out a sigh and pulled out a card. "Here is my contact info," she smiled. "I would love to catch up at another time, if you are free."

"Yes, thank you," Delphine nodded quickly, offering a weak smile. She plucked the card from between Moni's fingers and quickly shoved it in her coat pocket. "Bye."

As they turned, Cosima watched Delphine let out the puff of air she'd been holding. The blonde's eyes were still wide and her bottom lip twitched slightly. Cosima was certain she was holding her face similarly, overwhelmed by the speed of the interaction and how scared Delphine appeared from the start. Cosima rubbed her palm between Delphine's shoulder blades through her coat. Behind them, she heard the click of Moni's heels fade against the sidewalk.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, each of them clinging to the other under the buzz of the streetlights. Cosima cleared her throat. "Delphine, what just happened?"

"Mon amour, I did not think anyone would be there that late. And I didn't think anyone would remember my face, let alone my name." She brought her right hand up to her mouth and brushed her fingers against her lips. Her head shook side to side as she stared ahead still. 

"It's okay, it's okay," she soothed. "Who was she?" Her hands were still wrapped tightly around Delphine's waist. "She seemed to remember a lot about you."

"Yes, she did." Delphine reached for the front door of the hotel, the heavy wood and glass swinging into the warm air of the lobby. They made their way to the elevator and shared the ride up with a few other guests, nodding politely from the corner and brushing their palms.

The hotel room door _beeped_ open and Cosima trailed after Delphine, unwrapping her scarf and tugging her coat down her shoulders. "So... Moni?" she started.

"Yes, sorry." Delphine sat at the edge of the bed and folded her coat next to her as Cosima turned on the bedside lamp, casting a soft glow to the room. "I met her a few times, the first few just in the lab. She was not assigned to clone research at that time and we were mostly acquaintances." 

Cosima leaned back against the pillows, kicking off her shoes and resting her feet against Delphine's thigh. The blonde continued. "There was one time, as she mentioned, in the bathroom. It was near the end, a few days before everything was finalized. I had this moment where I realized that I could never come back to the DYAD, that my career was irreparably harmed, and that you were likely already dead and I just..." Her hands swirled in the air then ran through her own hair, searching for the right expression. "I lost it."

Cosima sat up and away from the pillows, her hand resting lightly at Delphine's elbow, trying to comfort without interrupting.

"Cosima," Delphine started, closing her eyes. "You need to know... I was a mess the last time I saw her. I was just a ball of tears, sobbing in the bathroom. I told her I was upset because I missed someone I'd left behind in Canada, but she knew something more. I just--I feel it." Her hands moved wildly in front of her as she spoke, moving from a quick brush through her own hair, to clenching and unclenching her fingers, until they finally landed on her lips and she whipped her head around to find Cosima's eyes.

"Yeah, well, you _do_ totally suck at lying," Cosima joked, offering a big, somewhat sad smile and tucking a blonde curl behind Delphine's ear.

Delphine let out a small puff of air, shaking her head. "Cos-i-ma..." She leaned in to quickly bump her nose against the tip of her lover's and pulled back again.

"I just moved here from Fraahnce--oh, my boyfriend and I are breaking up--I'm totally not gay, Cosima..." The brunette joked, exaggerating her bad french accent.

Delphine let out a small laugh and leaned back as Cosima wrapped her arms around from behind. They sat there for a moment, Cosima's arms around her waist and head resting on the blonde's shoulder from behind, staring at the hotel room wall. "So you think she knows more than she is letting on? And you are worried because she saw us and we were lurking around the DYAD and she might have recognized me as a clone?"

"That's the simple version, I suppose. She could be a part of that research now. It has been three years..." She turned her head to press her nose against Cosima's cheek. "Just being there again, seeing maybe the one person who saw me at my most vulnerable, it was just hard to take in, no?"

"I can see where you are coming from."

"Am I being paranoid?"

"Ehh," Cosima tipped her head back and forth in thought, rolling her chin along Delphine's shoulder. "Maybe a little." She pressed a quick kiss to her neck. "I don't want to downplay your fears, but it's probably nothing."

"What if it's not?"

Cosima sighed. "Then we'll deal with it. Just like everything else that has come our way." She squeezed against Delphine's waist and felt cool fingers strumming against her forearms. "Buuuut," she began, "my guess is that being there and seeing her brought up some old fears that felt completely real, even if there was no, like, actual threat. Like, reptilian brain triggering nervous system shit."

"The body responding to an imagined threat as if it were real?"

"Totally."

They sat for a while longer, wrapped together on the bed and lost in their own thoughts of DYAD and what, if anything, the run in with the tech could mean for them. When Cosima broke the silence with, _so, are you gonna call her and catch up?_ , Delphine spun around and laughed, wrapped Cosima in her arms, and tipped them over so they laid diagonally across the bed. 

Delphine wrapped her legs around Cosima's waist as they settled, facing each other. She reached up to take off the brunette's glasses and set them behind her head on the side table. "I am completely exhausted," Cosima yawned, stretching her arms into the air.

"You slept the whole way here! I should be the one who is exhausted!"

"What can I say--traveling takes it out of me."

Delphine smiled and ran her knuckles against Cosima's cheek. "I just want to spend the rest of this trip making memories with you, not dredging up the past, worrying about the DYAD. Yes, we will never fully escape them, but we can certainly avoid inviting them in."

"Agreed," Cosima replied. "And in the spirit of making good memories--please take off my pants, Doctor Cormier."

"Ooh, are we making cuddling memories or sexy memories?"

"Do it and find out."

Delphine played along, freeing the button from the clasp and tugging Cosima's pants off each leg as she lifted her hips, then her feet, from the bed. She watched Delphine remove her own clothes as well, sweater over her head and into the floor with pants quickly joining them. The blonde reached for Cosima's shirt next, tugging up and guiding it around her dreads. 

They drew the covers back and slid between, their legs tangling and feet rubbing together as they pleased. Delphine's knuckles found their way back to Cosima's cheek, brushing lightly as she watched Cosima's eyes flutter shut at the touch. 

"It's hard to believe we left Paris only twelve hours ago," Delphine mused, her gentle brushes traveling down to Cosima's neck. She watched her lover's eyes dip closed. Cosima hummed in agreement and licked her lips. Without thinking, Delphine pressed their lips together gently, her mouth moving slowly against Cosima's. 

The kiss was slow and sweet and felt to each of them like kissing for the sake of kissing. A hand soothed at Delphine's waist and knuckles and fingertips continued to stroke at Cosima's cheeks and neck. They stayed that way for minutes, their heads still resting against the pillows, tongues sneaking out every once in a while, but neither truly wanting the kiss to deepen. Cosima pulled away slowly, her eyes shut still, reveling in the afterglow of the tenderness.

"Dors bien, mon amour," Delphine cooed. "Fais de beaux rêves."

\-----

In the morning, Delphine located the hot water at the hotel breakfast bar, made them each a cup of tea, and returned to the room before Cosima was awake. She noticed the pile of blankets on the bed stirring with the _click_ of the door. She set both mugs on the side table.

"Bonjour, marmotte," Delphine said, wiggling her fingers against a foot that poked out from beneath the covers. The blankets groaned and the foot pulled away quickly, sucked back into its blanket home.

"Why are you so chipper this morning?" it moaned.

"Because this is our only full day in Frankfurt and it's beautiful outside."

Another groan.

"I brought you some tea." She pulled back the blankets, revealing a tiny, pants-less Cosima curled in a ball. She slapped quickly against her raised butt.

"Evil!" Cosima shouted. All she heard in response was Delphine's laughter and, after a few moments, the spray of the shower head. The promise of a morning shower with Delphine gave her the strength to lift herself from the bed, into the bathroom, and under the spray, shirt and underwear lost in the journey. 

"You know," she started as she stepped under the spray, "I have a special place in my heart for shower sex."

"Do you?" Delphine replied, rinsing the lather from her own hair. Cosima caught some of the bubbles on their way down, scooping them from the blonde's stomach and blowing them towards her.

"You know I do." Cosima ran her hands down Delphine's back, closing the distance between their torsos. "That first time after I was sick..." she trailed, a lazy smile on her face. "Tomorrow we're heading to your parent's house for almost a week. Shouldn't we take advantage of our very private hotel room while we still have it?"

"Hmm," Delphine thought, "only a few minutes ago I couldn't get you out of bed and now you are feeling awake enough for shower sex?" Her smile was teasing, mischievous. Delphine's hand grasped at her lover's hip, the other at her shoulder.

"Totally. Obvs. I'm coming onto you so hardcore right now." She ran her lips against Delphine's jaw and felt her lover's head tilt back, the spray of the shower hitting the side of her face. She guided them backwards until Delphine's back was pressed against the wall. Cosima felt her melting with each nip, her thighs moving apart to make room for her own. She rolled her hips quickly and heard a small moan in her ear, Delphine's fingers gripping more tightly at her shoulder. 

"Cosima," she whispered, somewhat like a question. She felt the lips that had been working her neck and jaw briefly graze her breasts, then disappear. When she finally opened her eyes, she found Cosima settling on her knees, coaxing a thigh over her shoulder, tongue wetting her lips in anticipation. 

The warm spray of the shower hit the left side of her body, running down in rivulets towards Cosima, who was tenderly parting her with a wet tongue and searching for perfectly-timed flicks against hot skin. She began slowly, taking her time to explore and enjoy the feel of the gathering wetness, distinct in taste and texture from the warm water spraying down on them. Delphine's hands tugged at the dreadlocks gathered at the top of Cosima's head. She grasped harder each time Cosima grazed over a sensitive spot, her hands flexing and guiding. 

A soft groan fell from Delphine's lips as Cosima's teeth brushed against her clit, the small movement sending shock waves through her body. Cosima grinned and repeated the action, letting her tongue settle into an easy rhythm, rolling against, then sucking lightly at her lover's hard bundle of nerves. She heard small cries start to echo off of the bathroom walls. Some soft commands of _yes right there!_ and _faster, please!_ found their way in amongst the muted, throaty screams.

She felt Delphine's thigh clench against her head as the grip on her hair pulled almost too-tight. She ran a hand up her thigh and teased at her entrance, brushed two fingers against her and Delphine bucked down in search of the pressure. Cosima's tongue never ceasing, she thrust those same two fingers into Delphine and felt her internal muscles tremble at the friction. The added pressure sent Delphine's hips wild, her voice ringing out against the wet tile of the hotel bathroom as she came.

After they finished showering for cleanliness instead of pleasure, they finished dressing, and made their way to the door. Cosima noticed Delphine pull out Moni's small blue business card from her pocket and fold it in half. She began to toss it into the garbage, then hesitated and tucked it into her luggage. "In case I change my mind," she reasoned. 

They spent the whole day perusing the Natural History Museum in Senckenberg, staring up at the skeletons of beasts who were roaming the Earth long before themselves or anyone they knew. Cosima especially enjoyed the exhibit of the anaconda eating the wild boar. Her hands spun wildly in the air, highlighting her disbelief as she repeated what she had read on the exhibit plaque to Delphine.

After dinner, they made good use of the hotel bed when Cosima suggested that it _must be_ feeling jealous of the shower. Delphine set an alarm just before her body slipped into unconsciousness, mentally mapping out the train schedule for the following day.

Their taxi arrived a bit early the next morning, and they scrambled to finish packing before rushing to the lobby. They caught their train to Geneva and settled in easily for the trip. Once again, Cosima leaned into Delphine, wrapped around her arm and head on her shoulder. She shared an earbud blaring dubstep to pass the time. "You are going to go deaf with this noise," Delphine winced, pulling it away after only a few songs. 

"If it's too loud, you're too old," Cosima winked and took the ear bud back, bobbing her head to the bass that Delphine could still hear perfectly from feet away.

Once in Geneva, they made their way to a rental car and packed all of their luggage in the back seat. "It's only an hour drive to Megève from here," she promised, Cosima's eyes both nervous and tired.

"So, what should I be expecting here?" the brunette asked as Delphine steered the rental car along the freeway, rolling green hills passing by quickly.

"Just what we've talked about before, mon amour. My parents are very... clear cut, reasonable. Very, ehm, old fashioned. And very old school Parisian."

"But they're cool with me right? Like on the phone they have alway been very cordial, but it's something else to be face to face with your only daughter's first girlfriend."

"First?" Delphine smiled.

" _And last_ ," Cosima amended, drawing her lips into a wide grin and hanging her head like a bashful teenager. Delphine's heart palpated at the sweetness of the moment.

"They know we are together, yes, of course. I have told them a lot about you." Delphine reached across the center console and rested her hand against Cosima's knee, strumming her fingers. 

"I guess I'm just a little nervous." Cosima shifted in her seat and ran a finger against the parted hair at the side of her head.

"Me, too. But they will love you. How could they not?" Delphine's heart swelled. It was true. Cosima was completely lovable.

They pulled up to the house after a few minutes, a large cedar cabin, jutting out over a small cliff, overlooking several large fields and a forest. The sun was setting behind it, the sky filled with deep purples and blues. The house was illuminated with soft, glowing lights, puffs of smoke trailing from the chimney. Through the windows, Cosima could make out the modern decor, all whites and greys and raw wood. Large-scale paintings graced the wall facing the peaked two-story window at the front of the house. She could make out a large barn in the distance, the silhouettes of a few horses grazing in the next field over. "Holy shit," she gaped.

Delphine sighed and watched the front door open, her parents waving from the front porch and making their way down the steps. "Ready?" she asked.

"Totally."

Delphine opened her door first, greeting her parents with a hug and kiss on each cheek. She turned to find Cosima already standing next to her, wringing her hands together. "Maman, Papa, this is Cosima." 

Cosima noticed the resemblance right away, both of them tall and willowy, moving with gentle certainty and... proper etiquette? Her mother wore a simple skirt and blouse, perfectly tailored, and heels, her blonde hair pinned back in a twist. Her father stood at her mother's side, silk tie clipped with a pin that matched his cuff links, presumably the same gold as his watch. His lips were drawn in a small, pleasant smile.

"Blanche," her mom said, holding out her hand, drawing Cosima in for a kiss to each cheek. "Enchantée, Cosima."

Cosima pulled away from the second air-peck with a huge, lit up smile. Blanche smoothed her hands over her skirt and then clasped them politely together in front of her. "Enchantée, Monsieur et Madame Cormier." Delphine smiled at Cosima's French. Her accent was getting better.

She shook Delphine's dad's hand next. "I'm Xavier," he said, his back stiff and grey hair brushed perfectly to the side. "Shall we?" He gestured to the door, slipping the largest suitcase from the back seat and heading inside. Cosima and Delphine took the remaining bags and trailed behind. She felt Delphine's hand slip into hers from behind, their fingers linking as she offered her lover a smile and a that-went-well shrug.

Blanche and Xavier led them to the front doors. Delphine watched her mother lean in to whisper to her husband, "Je ne me l'imaginais pas comme ça." _I did not imagine her like that._

"C'est vrai qu'elles sont tellement différentes," he replied. _It's true, they are so different._

"Pourtant, Delphine a dit qu'elle était très intelligente..." _But Delphine said she was very smart..._

"Maman..." Delphine warned, and watched them pull apart. Cosima smiled and squeezed her hand as they walked in the front door. _Merde. Une semaine entière_ , she thought. _A whole week._


	5. Megève I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima meets Delphine's parents for the first time. First impressions are sometimes hard to shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me a shout if you are enjoying this fic...
> 
> Also, thx to my buddy havuhadanosejob, master of all things French.

Delphine squinted one eye open, the sun streaming harshly through the window and onto her face. Her body was twisted in the sheets of her parent's guest bed; she'd clearly slept fitfully. She pushed her face further into the pillow to block out the light.

After they'd unpacked a bit the evening before, Cosima had pulled gently at her hands, urging her up from her place on the bed with a small kiss. "Let's go visit for a while," she'd said. 

Delphine grimaced. "I'm a bit tired."

"Come on, it's only eight, err twenty o'clock--since we're in Europe and all," she'd grinned. "Plus, parents love me." 

They'd made pleasant conversation with her parents over a glass of wine at the dining room table, her father asking politely about Cosima's field of research and dissertation topic. The brunette had, of course, engaged them fully, her hands moving quickly with building excitement each time Xavier asked a new question about the significance of clone cells. 

"From what I understand," he asserted, "we will be long gone before the world ever sees a human clone."

"Actually we're much closer than you would think," Cosima challenged and took a sip of her wine. "We're now able to clone specific cells from adult humans, creating tissue specific to the organ."

"Hmm, I was not aware," he'd shrugged. "I don't keep up on scientific breakthroughs--Delphine was always the scientist of the family." He'd nodded towards her. "I suppose you know a great deal about the subject of Cosima's dissertation by now?"

"I have learned so much from Cosima, Papa." Delphine had offered a warm half-smile to her girlfriend, pinching the stem of her wine glass.

Cosima laughed, nervous. "I have no doubt she was brilliant as a child." She returned the warm smile to Delphine and rested her hand against the blonde's forearm. After a moment, she turned back to Xavier. "I was, like, the little scientist of my family as well, always getting into mischief and setting up faulty experiments."

"And your parents?" Blanche asked. "What is their profession?"

"Eh, my dad is a writer. He writes, eh, short stories and lefty political essays. Persuasive liberal stuff that a lot of people from San Fran eat right up." She'd shifted in her chair, curling her leg beneath her and leaned forward against the table. "He's super creative and open-minded and generally awesome."

Blanche nodded and sat up a bit straighter in her chair. "And your mother?"

"Yeah! She's awesome as well, very people-smart. She's a psychiatrist and, less professionally, a painter."

"Creative types," Xavier noted.

"Yeah, totally." Cosima had nodded, gesturing to herself. "But they ended up with this super left-brained kid. You know, like, logical and _if-a-then-b_." Cosima tilted her bottom lip to the side as she watched Blanche and Xavier nodding politely at her explanation. "But," she leaned back a bit, "yeah, I was totally raised in a creative household, like you said."

"Children can be so different from their parents, no?" Blanche stuck her nose in the wine glass and took a sip after breathing it in. She'd glanced at Delphine as she swallowed and then out the large window that overlooked a meadow.

Cosima had nodded and shifted in her seat. She looked to Delphine who was sighing, a small, forced smile on her lips. A short silence settled between them all.

The four of them glanced out the window, the last remnants of sunset disappearing from the sky. Blanche stood after a moment and smoothed her skirt, clearing the wine glasses from the table. "We have reservations at Flocons de Sel for tomorrow morning. We will meet in the foyer at nine."

Delphine rose, Cosima along with her, and pushed their chairs in. "Oui, okay, Maman," Delphine replied. "Bonne nuit." She kissed Blanche's cheeks, then Xavier's. "À demain."

"Bonne nuit," Xavier replied. "And goodnight, Cosima."

"Bonne nuit," Cosima replied.

They'd fallen asleep within moments of their heads hitting the pillow, Delphine's body curled behind Cosima's, nose buried in the crook of her neck.

So now, with the morning light scalding her eyes, Delphine reached behind herself, searching for the warm body snoring lightly beside her. Cosima stirred and snuggled in closer.

"Time to get up, mon amour," Delphine yawned.

She showered, dressed, and returned to their room to find Cosima still wrapped in the sheets. She tugged at the covers. "Cosima! Allons-y! We are going to be late!"

"Chill, it's fine." She sat up, rubbing her eyes then settling her glasses on her nose. "I already know what I'm going to wear. I need like five minutes, tops."

"Five minutes is all you have." Delphine sat at the edge of the bed and slipped on her boots. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming, no worries." Cosima grabbed a stack of clothing from her drawer and disappeared into the bathroom. Delphine heard the water start running and the sound of her electric toothbrush.

"Cosima?"

"Mmhmm?" she replied, toothbrush in mouth.

"I will meet you down there, okay?"

"Five minutes!" she called, slightly muffled.

Fifteen minutes later, Delphine stood in the foyer, coat on her shoulders and bag over her arm. Xavier was outside warming the car. She could hear the motor idling in the driveway. Blanche let out a sigh.

"Bon, Delphine, je trouve Cosima très gentille, mais nous étions sensés partir il y a dix mn. Tu sais que c'est difficile d'avoir une table là-bas." _Delphine, I find Cosima very nice but we were supposed to leave ten minutes ago. You know how hard it is to get a reservation there_.

"Oui, Maman. Elle sera là dans une minute." _Yes, mom. She'll be down in a minute_. She peeked her head around through the doorway to the stairs, willing Cosima down them, tugging at her bottom lip.

"Heureusement que ton père et moi connaissons bien le chef, sinon nous n'aurions jamais eu de table dans ces délais." _Luckily your father and I know the chef, or we would never have been able to get it so quick_.

"Je comprends. Je suis desolée." _I know. I'm sorry_.

"Tu sais que je n'aime pas arriver en retard, c'est impoli." _You know I don't like to be late, it's just impolite_.

Delphine's head snapped to the staircase again when she heard Cosima's heels rumbling down the steps. She wrapped her bright red coat around her shoulders as she walked towards them.

"Sooooo sorry I'm running late," she gestured. "I totally lost track of time! I'm, eh, kind of always late." She gathered her dreads in her hands behind her, pulling them out from under her coat and onto her shoulders. She wore a simple, knit black dress and patterned leggings beneath, her eyeliner perfectly winged. 

"I think we are still recovering from the jetlag," Delphine reasoned. 

"Hmm, perhaps" Blanche hummed, pulling open the front door of the house and then, the front door of the car. Cosima raised her eyebrows and shrugged at Delphine, who was still nervously tugging at her bottom lip.

Because they were late to their reservation, the table they'd reserved was occupied by another group. They waited for another thirty minutes, making small talk, Cosima enduring an unofficial game of twenty questions.

As they finally sat at their table, Blanche asked "You have been together for four years--surely you have discussed marriage and children."

"Maman..." Delphine warned in a low voice.

Blanche looked between the two of them, glancing down at Cosima's hand as it came to rest, once again, against Delphine's forearm, soothing the skin with her thumb. 

"Blanche," Xavier began, "I don't think--"

"No, no, it's okay," Cosima waved her free hand through the air, wiping away the awkwardness. "It's a valid question." She shifted, leaning her body towards Delphine's. "I, um, have a super smart adolescent niece who is really important in my life. She's kind of filling that kid role right now." Her hand gripped lightly at Delphine's arm. "As for my own--er, _our_ own--that's still up for discussion. I don't feel strongly either way, I suppose."

Blanche nodded, satisfied with the subject for a moment. The waiter arrived and began reciting the specials. As they each placed their orders, Delphine's eyes locked with Blanche's, her lips drawn in a straight line. _Be nice_ , they pleaded. _Please_. Blanche placed her napkin across her lap, smoothed at its corners. 

"So," Xavier began, "how is work, Delphine?"

"It is wonderful. I am on sabbatical, as you know, writing an extensive article compiling the findings of my lab's research on host-parasite relationships. My graduate students are very bright and the research is, fortunately, well funded."

"Magnifique!" He smiled.

Blanche sipped at her coffee. "It's still not the DYAD. I still cannot imagine why you would choose an American university over a multinational corporation."

"Maman, I am very happy with my career and the life I am building with Cosima."

 _Pfft_ she scoffed and began lifting her coffee mug to her mouth. "I know how hard you worked to gain status in that company... Je ne te comprends pas, Delphine" _I don't understand you, Delphine_.

Delphine felt a prickle at the base of her neck. She leaned forward, voice lowered, but pointed, intense. "Je m'en fous que tu comprennes. Je veux seulement que tu acceptes et soutiennes ma décision!" _I don't care for you to understand, I just want you to accept and support my decision!_. She ended with a forced exhale, her voice had grown more frustrated with each word. She pushed back from the table, leaning back in her chair. Cosima's bottom lip pulled to the side as she stared between Delphine and her parents.

"Excuse me," Delphine pushed back from the table quickly. "I need to use the restroom." She ran her hand along Cosima's shoulder, offering her a squeeze as she walked past. The brunette looked at the table for a moment, then rose slowly.

"I'm sorry, I don't totally understand what just happened, but I'm just going to make sure she's okay," Cosima took a step back, hands waxing apologetic in front of her before she turned and followed Delphine towards the bathroom.

She rapped her knuckles against the single-stall door. "Delphine?" she called. The door opened slightly and she slipped in between. "So, this is going well, huh?" She smiled, trying to tease, until she saw the tears gathering in the blonde's eyes. "Oh, Delphine..."

Cosima pulled her into a hug, hands soothing down her back. They stood there like that for a moment, Delphine's arms wrapped loosely around Cosima's waist, face in her shoulder. 

"She is so critical and yet she has no idea what we went through," she sniffled.

"I know, she doesn't," Cosima cooed.

"She believes I so easily walked alway from DYAD... That you made me do it. Her disappointment is coming through in every comment..."

Cosima wasn't certain what to say, so she hummed in agreement and continued running her hands against Delphine's shoulders. _But you did walk away for me_.

She felt Delphine pull away for a moment, their eyes meeting briefly before she felt warm lips pressed against her own. Delphine pushed her back against the door lightly, more suggestion than command, and Cosima obliged. She opened her mouth a bit, swirling her tongue briefly against the brunette's, then a gentle nip. Cosima hummed, her eyes still closed, as Delphine pulled away. "Mmm, what was that for?"

Delphine rested their foreheads together, her tears subsided. "For putting up with a morning of intrusive and judgmental questions." She cupped the brunette's cheek and ran her thumb across Cosima's lower lip. "For being all of the things that you are to me."

Cosima's lips pulled into a wide grin. "For sure, anytime." Her hands found their way to Delphine's neck and pulled her in again, this time for a short, sweet kiss. "I don't think they like me very much..."

"Give them time. You are so charming; You will grow on them."

"Like a fungus?"

"Oui, like a fungus," she laughed.

"You ready to head back?"

Delphine nodded with a smile, trailed her hands down to finds Cosima's and squeeze. She tugged the door open and they walked back toward the table, Cosima's hand resting the whole way at the small of her back.


	6. Megève II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of days at Delphine's parents house in the Mountains. Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say AYOOO if you're enjoying this...
> 
> If you're not a fan of smut, stop reading at the mention of lap top movies...and also why are you reading an M rated fic? Who are you trying to kid here!?
> 
> All hail the Frenchie, havuhadanosejob, for her French speaking/writing skillz. Once more, I say: you da you da best (via Drake).

Through the rest of the breakfast, a slightly calmer Delphine successfully directed the conversation away from Cosima, away from the DYAD, and back towards her mother's interests.

"We are hosting the law firm's corporate New Year's Eve party this year in Paris. It's always such a grand affair, and there is so much left to do." The waiter cleared the remaining dishes from the table and left a check. Xavier pulled it from the table discreetly, tucking his card quickly inside and handing it right back to the server.

"Wow, that sounds awesome!" Cosima smiled, her hand wrapped around the cooling cup of tea in front of her. "I bet that's a super swanky event."

"Swanky?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, it means, ehh, fancy," she explained, rolling her hand at the explanation. Blanche smiled, her lips pursed, nodding in agreement. Cosima watched the waiter return with credit card in hand and turned toward Xavier. "Thank you so much for breakfast."

Xavier wiped his hand through the air. "De rien," he shrugged. "Of course, you are both welcome to attend the soirée in Paris if you are able."

Delphine sat back in her chair. "Thank you, Papa, however, we will probably still be in Italy then. You know we've rented a house there for a few months as I complete my sabbatical."

"Well, if plans change..." he reasoned, trailing off. He cleared his throat and adjusted his navy blue tie. After a moment, the group rose from the table and pulled their coats on. Cosima slipped her arm around Delphine's waist, tucking their bodies close as they walked out the door.

The car doors shut with a _thud_. They walked towards the house and Delphine announced their plans to hike to a nearby look-out point in the afternoon. After pulling on some of their warmer, more durable clothing, Delphine led them to an overgrown trailhead at the side of the property. Cosima squinted across the field, searching for the grazing horses she'd seen the night before. She breathed in deeply, easily, her hand cradled in the blonde's as they walked the simple trail toward the lookout that promised a breathtaking view of the Alps. They walked in a comfortable near-silence, the sun shining in the crisp autumn air, bouncing off of the snow-capped mountains that formed the skyline in front of them. 

"This view is going to be sooo postcard-worthy, I can feel it. I can also sense that my ass is going to be really sore tomorrow," Cosima joked.

"It's not such a hard trail, Cosima." Delphine watched the brunette mime her own slow death-by-hiking and laughed.

Their feet shuffled up to the end of the trail, the promised view all the more stunning in the afternoon light. The alps rolled out before them, glittering white amongst jagged black rock. Cosima felt Delphine behind her, puffy winter coat arms swooping around her shoulders. The blonde rested her head against Cosima's, the roughness of her dreads against her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment and remembered standing like this years ago, Cosima's thin, ailing body trapped lightly between her own and the kitchen sink as she washed their dinner plates. As if on cue, Cosima dropped her head back, eyes closed, just as she'd done that night. Delphine watched her lover breathe in deeply, her face, the only exposed skin on her body, soaking in the sunlight.

"So, mountain sex, huh?" Her eyes were still closed, a smile gracing her lips. "It wasn't on my original list, but I'm thinking I'll have to add it now. I hadn't considered it before--Minnesota is as flat as a pancake."

Delphine scoffed. "Cosima, it's cold outside and we are wearing thick coats. And people walk these trails all the time."

"Didn't stop you on the Eiffel Tower..." Cosima sang, speaking from the side of her mouth, lips pulled into a teasing smirk.

"At the Eiffel Tower I was fulfilling the last wishes of my dying lover. Mountain sex would just be fulfilling the wishes of my horny girlfriend. Not nearly as romantic."

"Hmm, I could totally make it romantic." She turned to nuzzle her cold nose into Delphine's cheek. "A little wine, a sleeping bag..."

"So now we are camping in this fantasy?" The blonde teased.

"Sure, why not?" She shrugged. She pulled Delphine tighter against her and paused. Her lips opened, then shut quickly. She wanted to say something.

"What is on your mind, mon amour?"

Cosima tiled her head as if weighing her options. Her lips pursed, choosing her words before they fell from her mouth. "Are you planning on calling the number on that card you saved? The one in your suitcase."

Delphine placed a kiss against the brunette's temple, tiny brown wisps tickling at her lips. "Why do you ask?"

"I mean, after this morning it's even more clear to me how quickly you left, how much you lost in order to come back to Toronto." She paused, turning slightly to meet Delphine's brilliant eyes. "I'm just wondering if you are considering that phone number as a way to find some type of closure."

"Or a way to open up a whole can of... worms? Is that the idiom?"

"Yeah, I don't think that sentence was going in the direction of _whoopass_." She laughed, her canine teeth peaking out from beneath her growing smile. A silence settled between them. Cosima turned once more towards the skyline, her eyes trying in vain to count every peak she could make out at the northwestern-most part of the mountain chain.

"I am still mulling it over," Delphine stated, her voice low. "I think I should sleep on it?"

"Yeah, of course." She pulled her hand out of her coat pocket and held it warm against Delphine's pink cheek. "Take all the time you need. There is no deadline, obvs."

They remained talking at the look out point a bit too long. The sun had set by the time they returned to the house. Blanche and Xavier were already in their room, door closed, a few lights strategically left on in the house to help them see on their way to the guest room.

Delphine peeled her coat off first, and then Cosima's. She shimmied out of her jeans, her hands still icy, and pressed a kiss to Cosima's collar bone. She pulled her lover under the covers, kissing her properly, feeling the warmth of her bare skin seeping into her bones.

She pulled away for a moment as she felt Cosima's lips slow. The brunette's eyes were fluttering shut at the feel of Delphine's blunt nails teasing the nape or her neck. The exhaustion from their full day of hiking hit them both at once, each of them slipping slowly into unconsciousness, legs tangled together, breath mingling.

Cosima woke first, her body unfamiliar with the sensation of feeling so fully _awake_ so early. She stretched her body out like a cat, hands in the air and back arched against the mattress, then placed a small kiss at the top of Delphine's head and slipped from the covers. She pulled on a pair of dark green harem pants and a cardigan, gathered her dreads up into a large knot on top of her head.

She padded downstairs and started the kettle, searching through the collection of tea bags in their cupboard. Peppermint? No, today was an earl grey morning.

"Bonjour, Cosima," Xavier called behind her. Cosima jumped, startled at the unexpected greeting.

"Oh, God, you scared me!" She turned, her hand grasping at her chest.

"Sorry, I should have warned you."

"No, no, it's okay. Good morning," she smiled and pointed at the kettle as it began to whistle lightly. "Is it okay if I make some tea?"

"Help yourself." He poured himself a cup of coffee, then pulled a piece of lint off of the shoulder of his jacket. "Cosima, perhaps you will join me in my office this morning? It's a bit of a ritual to drink coffee and read at the start of the day."

"Yeah! Totally. That'd be great," she grinned. Cosima dunked the small bag of earl grey in the steaming mug and followed him into the office. She settled into a plush modern chair that faced the large window overlooking the surrounding fields and hills, a whisper of mountains at the skyline. She tucked her feet under her thighs and warmed her hands with the mug in between. Xavier sat in the chair to her right, sipping at his coffee, then cleared his throat.

The walls of his office were lined with perfectly sorted books, separated by genre. Cosima noted the simple covers of what appeared to be novels, many of them a bit worn at the edges. Beneath them, a row of newer books that she recognized as his collection of law reference guides. One stuck out to her in particular as her eyes skimmed the titles, a simple black cover, gold lettering. "Droit et Bioéthique en Recherche Clinique" she read slowly, her accent harsh. _Law and Ethics in Medical Research._

Xavier pulled his cup away from his mouth. "Yes, fascinating subject."

Cosima cleared her throat. "I thought you practiced mostly corporate law?"

"Yes, well, ethics have always been an interesting field to me. And with Blanche's career in pharmaceuticals, medical ethics are something we debate regularly."

Cosima paused, sipping at her tea. The liquid burned at her lips, then down her throat, sitting warm in her stomach. "She's retired, right?"

"Oh yes, being the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a good way to burn yourself out," he laughed, clinking his small cup against the matching plate on the table to his side. "As a new doctor, what are your thoughts on the complicated field of medical ethics?"

Cosima tilted her head from side to side weighing out her next words carefully, the paths that each choice would inevitably lead down. "I have many thoughts," she asserted. "My experience suggests that right and wrong can become very, eh, convoluted in presence of suffering." She waited a moment, pausing to see if he would answer. She pulled at the string attached to her tea bag, agitating it in the now-brown liquid.

"Many people argue that the suffering of a few is justified by the health of many--that something as seemingly unethical as human trials can be vindicated by a significant medical discovery."

She considered his words first, then the points she wished to make that were screaming at her, and finally the amended version of her thoughts. "I suppose the most important question is about consent. Should people be able to choose to be lab rats? What level of autonomy should be involved when using human beings as the subject of an experiment?" Her body had turned in her chair from her passionate questions and she was now facing him entirely, legs still tucked, and arm resting against the chair.

"Agreed," he replied. "Though I understand that experiments with self-aware subjects run the risk of gathering skewed and inaccurate data. That certainly complicates the issue of consent. How can one agree when they cannot know that they are the subject?"

"Mmhmm," Cosima nodded, swallowing the last few drops of tea. "Manipulation is, to me, inherently unethical." 

Xavier seemed to consider this a moment, his lips drawn briefly in a contemplative frown. "Yes, but consider the Tuskegee Institute studies on syphillis. There have been several studies throughout history that benefitted from what is now clearly unethical human testing."

Cosima cleared her throat and ran her hand nervously along her scalp where her dreadlocks were parted. She turned back towards the window and sipped at her tea. 

"Did I say something to upset you?"

"No, no, it's just..." She turned back towards him, hands flailing with explanation. "A few years ago, I was sick. Like, really really sick. Things were not looking good for me on the whole _staying alive_ front."

"Yes, Delphine mentioned that you had gone through some sort of treatment."

"Yeah, I'm thankful I'm alive, don't get me wrong." Her hands moved with the explanation, rings clinking and her bracelets sliding up to her forearm. "But my point is: scientist Cosima was hard to reconcile with I'm-dying-I'll-do-anything-to-live Cosima. Human trials assume that one life is more valuable or deserving of treatment than others, and that just doesn't float with me."

"But the treatment research must come from somewhere." _Yes, Jennifer. Katja. Kira. DYAD._

Cosima nodded, the locks on top of her head bobbing lightly. "Actually, it was Delphine. She figured it out." Cosima turned to meet his eyes, her bottom lip tugging to one side. "She kinda saved my life."

"I see," he contemplated, his lips drawing into a faint smile. He put his coffee cup to his mouth, tipping it up completely, savoring the last sip. "When was this?"

"Um, I guess I started getting sick about, eh, four years ago? It progressed quickly and I started treatment about a year after."

"Hmm." He paused. "I'm certainly glad the treatment worked. I see how happy Delphine is with you."

Cosima smiled and hung her head, bashful. "Yes, the feeling is completely mutual." She felt a warm set of hands on her shoulders, then arms around her neck, a quick kiss to her cheek from behind. "Good morning, sleepy head," Cosima grinned. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Only a moment. Long enough to hear you gushing about me." Delphine walked behind the chair, pressing a kiss to Xavier's cheek. "Bonjour, Papa."

"Bonjour," he smiled. Delphine perched on the armrest of Cosima's chair, her hair pulled into a messy bun at the top of her head, long legs stretched out and crossed in front of her.

"You know," Cosima sat up, quickly brushing her palm against Delphine's knee. "I think I might head back up to our room for a bit. I've been reading a really amazing novel and the last chapter left me at quite the cliffhanger." She turned towards Xavier. "Thanks for the company. And, uh, the tea."

"Same to you, Cosima." Xavier and Delphine watched her leave the room, heard her feet shuffle up the stairs, and the light thump of the door closing.

Xavier leaned forward and rested his elbows against his knees, head tilted towards his daughter. "Cosima m'a parlé de son problème de santé il y a quelques années." _Cosima told me that she was ill a few years ago._

"Oui, c'est compliqué..." _Yes, it's complicated..._ Delphine slipped off the armrest into the chair where Cosima had previously been, the spot still warm from her girlfriend's body heat.

"C'était à peu près quand tu as démissionné après ta mutation à Francfort." _It was around the time you quit after you transfered to Frankfurt._

"Qu'est-ce que tu insinues ?" _What are you insinuating?_

He brought his hand to where Delphine's was resting, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Rien, elle me l'a dit. Tu as fait le bon choix." _Nothing, she already told me. You made the right choice._

Cosima spent the rest of her morning with her nose in a book--the first novel she'd had time to read since beginning her PhD. Delphine had spent her morning and afternoon with Xavier, conversation easy, even when Cosima joined them for dinner.

Cosima excused herself after dessert to skype with Kira and Sarah for their bi-weekly date, bounding up the stairs because she was running late, once again.

Blanche returned home as Delphine and Xavier still sat laughing at the dining table, wine glasses near empty. She carried a couple bags from clothing boutiques downtown.

"Excusez-moi pour le retard. Ma conférence avec New Year's s'est révélée plus longue que prévu." _Excuse me for being late. The conference call about New Year's took longer than expected._ Xavier stood, kissed his wife on the cheek, and cleared the dishes, heading towards the kitchen. Blanche watched him walk through the doorway and peered after him, searching. "Où est Cosima?" _Where is Cosima?_

"Elle avait un rendez-vous prévu avec sa nièce. Elle skype en haut," Delphine replied. _She had a prior commitment to her niece. She is skyping upstairs._

"Hmm," Blanche hummed, unpacking the contents of her shopping bag. "Je n'ai pas demandé à Cosima ce qu'elle faisait après son doctorat. Est-ce que tu le sais?" _I never asked Cosima about her plans now that she has her PhD. Do you know what she will do next?_

Delphine watched her, hands folded on top of the table. "Elle veut faire de la recherche. Sa thèse concernait les cellules clonales, donc, dans l'idéal, elle travaillerait pour une entreprise de recherche médicale dans ce domaine." _She wants to do research. Her thesis was around clone cells, so ideally she will work for a company that supports medical research in that field._

"Elle n'a pas d'emploi assuré?" _She has no job to return to?_

Delphine shook her head, tilting it to the side. "Elle a des pistes, mais rien d'officiel. Elle fait une pause pendant mon congé sabbatique." _She has prospects, but nothing official. She is using this sabbatical as a bit of a break._

Blanche clicked her teeth in thought. "DYAD est connue pour ce genre de recherche. Et si elle peut travailler là-bas..." _The DYAD is known for this kind of research. Perhaps if she works there..._

Delphine's voice lowered, her mouth suddenly felt dry. "Cosima ne veut pas travailler pour DYAD. Et arrête, tu ne sais pas de quoi tu parles." _Cosima is not interested in working for the DYAD. And you have no idea what you're talking about._

"Je dis seulement les choses comme elles me paraissent." _I'm only saying how it appears to me._ Blanche turned towards her completely, boutique clothing forgotten. "Tu es tellement intelligente..." _You're so intelligent..._ She tapped her finger harshly against her own forehead. "Tu pourrais être médecin, pas un simple professeur!" _You could be a doctor, not a simple professor!_ Blanche turned back towards her bags, pulling out a new scarf and snapping off the tag.

"Arrête, je t'ai dit que j'aime ce que je fais. Tu ne connais rien de DYAD, autre que leur statut!" _I told you, I love what I do for a living. You know nothing about the DYAD outside of their status!_

Blanch tugged the new scarf around her neck, draping it just so. "Peut-être. Sauf que je sais pourquoi tu as démissionné, et elle est en haut, en train de skyper dans votre chambre." _Perhaps. But I know why you left, and she is skyping in your room upstairs._

"Tu parles de choses que tu ne connais pas comme si tu en savais quelque chose. Tu imagines toujours le pire de moi, et d'elle." _You speak so confidently about things you know nothing about. You are assuming the worst of me, and of her._ Delphine rose, her height almost matching her mother's, except for the intervention of her heels. "Cette discussion est finie." _This conversation is over._

Blanche threw up her hands as if in defeat, though the smirk on her face said otherwise. "Pourquoi tu te mets sur la défensive? Je constate juste les faits." _Why are you so defensive? I am simply naming the facts._

Delphine shook her head in disbelief, teeth tugging at her bottom lip. She brushed past her mother on her way to the stairs, glanced briefly into the kitchen and saw Xavier standing over the dishwasher, his eyes in a focused frown towards his wife. Just before she closed the door to their room, she heard him say, "Delphine a raison. Tu ne sais pas tout." _Delphine is right. You don't have all of the information._

She closed the door softly, wanting to avoid disrupting the skype call. The room was lit with a single lamp in the corner, casting an orange glow against the walls and her girlfriend, who was sprawled across the bed on her stomach.

"Hey, hold on a minute," Cosima said. "Delphine just walked in." Cosima turned and reached out her arm, bracelets jingling, beckoning Delphine to join her on the bed.

"Oi, Delphine," she heard from the open laptop, Sarah's gritty voice cutting through. "Enjoyin' your trip?"

"For the most part, yes," she replied, sitting next to Cosima on the bed. Sarah and Kira's faces filled the screen. "Hello, Kira."

"Hi!" She smiled and waved.

Delphine's hand rested atop Cosima's arm, tracing her dandelion tattoo carefully, as her teeth continued to worry against her bottom lip. Cosima knew that face. "Hey guys, I'm gonna have to cut this short. Sorry."

"That's okay, auntie Cosima. See you in two weeks?"

"Totally! It's a date, kid."

"See ya, Cos," Sarah grumbled. Cosima wiggled her fingers from under her chin in a wave goodbye and Kira repeated the action back to her. The laptop shut with a click.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, it's totally fine. Kira was just cleverly avoiding my questions about a potential middle school crush. What's up?" She sat up on the bed and placed the laptop on the floor, then crossed her legs in a pretzel. Her hands found their place at Delphine's knees, rubbing her thumbs in tiny circles.

"My mother is just so..." She ran her hands through her hair, tugging fistfuls of blonde away from her face. She searched for the correct word. "Difficult? Impossible?"

"What happened?"

"She is speaking about DYAD as if she knows everything. And she knows nothing!"

"Obvs," Cosima smiled.

"Why are you laughing? This is not funny."

"Because it's true--she knows nothing. Her opinions about DYAD and your job are...moot," Cosima reasoned, her fingers trailing up the blondes arm, stopping to squeeze at her shoulders.

"Moot?" Delphine smiled, eyes still a bit sad.

Cosima grinned and drew her in for a hug. Delphine's body collapsed on impact, melting into her lover's chest. She felt the brunette's fingers graze along her scalp as her hands worked through the simple tangles Delphine had created in frustration moments before. "So what should we do to take your mind off of this?" She kissed at Delphine's hairline. "We could watch a movie? I have a few on my laptop that we didn't get a chance to watch on the plane."

Delphine sat up slowly and nuzzled Cosima's cheek. She tugged the bottom of her shirt up over her head. "Just kiss me," she whispered.

"Yes, ma'am," Cosima grinned as their lips met, gently at first, tongues sneaking out to trace one another. Delphine pushed the cardigan from Cosima's shoulders, then cupped her hands lightly at her jaw, guiding their kiss deeper. She broke away briefly to unsnap and shimmy off her own pants and underwear, then tugged at Cosima's, pulling her underwear down with the soft fabric of her pants. The brunette whipped her tank top over her head at the same time, leaving her in nothing but a dark patterned bra. Delphine pushed at her shoulders, coaxing her into a laying position. "You mean business," she laughed.

Her smile quickly faded as she felt Delphine's lips at her hip, nipping at the curve of her waist, running her tongue where hip met thigh. Cosima ran one hand through Delphine's hair. "Are you sure this is okay? It's still early."

"Can you be quiet?" She trailed her lips, lightly biting her way to the juncture of her thighs. When she met the center, she pressed a slow, open-mouthed kiss against her lover, nuzzling into the patch of hair there. She looked up to find Cosima staring, mouth open slightly and nodding, and her hips rolling forward.

Delphine wrapped her arms around Cosima's thighs, pulling her lover more tightly to her face, and began her teasing licks, rolling her tongue firmly against her cunt. She heard Cosima gasp at the sudden contact, tasted her body react in the form of gathering wetness against her tongue. She reached a hand up to tease at her breast, slipped under the band of her bra. Cosima's hands were still in her hair, not guiding at all, just resting and twirling her fingers in the blonde waves.

The hand that was not already teasing the brunette's breast scraped against Cosima's thigh, teasing two fingers at her entrance, then thrusting into her slowly. She felt Cosima's head snap up at the friction and fullness, a groan falling from her lips before she could stop it. Delphine pulled away for a moment, her mouth glistening and her fingers still building speed. She slipped her hand from Cosima's bra and grabbed at the pillow beside her, flinging it at her head with a soft _shhh._ Cosima groaned again, her body rocking lightly with the strength of Delphine's thrusts, holding the pillow tightly against her own head to muffle her cries. Satisfied with the volume of her lover's groans, Delphine brought her lips and tongue back to Cosima's clit and circled it lightly.

Her arm burned after a few minutes, getting no help from Cosima who laid still, content with being passively fucked and smothering her vocals. Delphine could feel the muscles around her fingers begin to tremble, clamping tighter, so she added a third. Cosima's hips bucked once, a thank you for the increase in pressure, then went slack again, rocking against the bed only with the strength of Delphine's long fingers pumping into her. The blonde sucked lightly at her clit, then fluttered her tongue quickly against the hardened nub. She felt Cosima's hips raise from the bed, her cunt squeezing mercilessly against pounding digits. A muffled groan of relief slipping through the fluff held against her mouth. Then her body went slack, the pillow pushed away from her face, revealing a flushed, panting Cosima.

Delphine kissed up her torso, running her hands over a smooth ribcage on her way up. She hovered her mouth over Cosima's, smiling. "Fuck," Cosima groaned just before their lips met. She tasted herself on her lover's tongue and deepened the kiss, drawing Delphine into her mouth. She felt the blonde's thighs come up to straddle her hips and rested her palms against them, trailing her fingers lightly up to her waist. The brunette sat up on the bed, eye level with Delphine's chest, her teeth nipping at the skin around her bra. Cosima popped the clasp and dragged the straps down her arms, her tongue immediately teasing at a hardened nipple. The blonde wrapped her arms around Cosima's shoulders and slowly ground herself into her stomach.

"Now it's your turn to be quiet," she teased, her hand slipping between their bodies to find Delphine dripping wet. She ran her fingers through the wetness at first, then dipped a single digit inside. Delphine rolled her hips, slowly riding the hand trapped between them. Cosima added another finger after a few thrusts, curling them to press against the spongey part of her front wall. Delphine gasped at each tap, trying her best to control her vocal cords. She tipped her head forward and rested her mouth against Cosima's shoulder, willing it to absorb any noises she might unknowingly make.

They moved together for a while, Delphine rolling slowly against the fingers that curled and tapped her until each nerve ending on her body felt like it might explode. Cosima licked at her clavicle and the blonde let out a shuttering breath, the hint of a moan at the end.

"God, I want to make you scream, but you have to be quiet." Delphine bit her bottom lip, sucking it between her two rows of teeth to stop herself. Cosima heard her lover's breath against her ear, her cheek. Then, a sharp inhale and a light groan. She felt Delphine's hand brushing against her stomach, the blonde toying with her own clit where their bodies met. Her fingers grew more insistent, focused in their movements, her hips thrusting a bit harder against Cosima's hand. The brunette braced them together, a hand at the small of Delphine's back, scratching her nails against the sheen of sweat that was forming there. "Come for me," she whispered.

Delphine broke in that moment, orgasm ripping through her groin and up her spine. Her hips slowed as she tipped her head back, eyes closed and started to groan. Cosima quickly moved her hand from Delphine's back to her mouth to muffle the sounds, and Delphine drew her fingers into her mouth, sucking at them as she exploded, her fingers still working madly against her own clit.

Her hips and breath slowed after a minute and Cosima pulled wet fingers from the blonde's mouth and slipped her other equally-wet hand from between her legs. Delphine wrapped her arms around her lover's shoulders, kissing at her neck, her cheeks as she came down from her high.

Then, a soft rap at the door. "Delphine?" The voice called through the solid oak. Blanche.

Delphine's voice cracked. "Une seconde, j'arrive." _One moment. I will be right there._ She pulled herself off of Cosima and began pulling on her pants frantically, smoothing her disheveled hair.

The other side of the door was silent for a moment, and then, "Non, c'est bon, ça peut attendre demain matin." _No, it's okay. We will talk in the morning._ Her footsteps retreated down the hallway, the click of her heels heard easily through the door.

"Merde," Delphine whispered, turning to face Cosima who had only just gotten her pants to her knees. "Shit, shit," she hissed, tugging her hair to one side of her head.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm sure she didn't hear anything," Cosima cooed, pulling Delphine down into the bed by her hand. "We had been done for a while before she knocked."

Delphine huffed. "I think I overestimated the thickness of the door."

"No, no, I honestly don't think she heard."

Delphine cringed, unconvinced by the brunette's reassurance. She allowed herself to be pulled under the covers anyways, Cosima's small body wrapped around her from behind, hand resting at her stomach, drawing senseless patterns into the soft skin there. She worried her lips even as her eyes drifted shut, her lover's warm hands stroking at her sides, lulling her into unconsciousness.


	7. Megève III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delphine gets a secret off her shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, havuhadanosejob, for asking lots of questions and pointing out obvious plot holes.

There was a moment of blissful silence in her head upon waking, a moment where the embarrassment and uncertainty of the night before ceased to exist. One simple moment--and then the interactions with her mother were front and center in her mind. Their heated argument in the dining room about Cosima and DYAD, and then...

"Oh, mon dieu," she groaned and shoved her face in the pillow, an ostrich with its head in the sand. Cosima stirred behind her and flung a sleepy arm around her waist. _She heard us. She definitely heard us._

"Shhh," Cosima hushed sleepily from behind her, uncoordinated hand stroking at her hair. "I can hear you worrying from here."

Delphine flipped her head against the pillow to look at the woman beside her. Cosima was smiling lazily, just coming out of her sleep state. "What if she heard us?" Delphine mumbled, biting at her thumb nail.

"So what?" She shrugged a shoulder. "Aside from it being a little bit awkward... And we don't even know if she heard. I mean, we were pretty much done when she knocked..."

"She is not your mother," Delphine replied, a simple statement with a world of _you-don't-understand_ behind it. "My parents are not like your parents."

Cosima pursed her lips and considered her next sentence carefully. "I don't mean to brush it off, it's just--what's done is done."

Delphine sighed audibly, forcing every bit of air from her body. She buried her head in the pillow again and groaned at her discomfort.

After Cosima lured her out of bed with promises of tea and warm croissants, they made their way downstairs, intentionally fully dressed and ready for the day. They moved about the kitchen seamlessly, Cosima boiling the water and Delphine placing the croissants on a small plate before heading to the dining room. The rest of the house was silent and, for a few minutes, they were uncertain if they were alone or not.

"Do you think they left?" Cosima whispered, leaning in to pop the last bite in her mouth. Delphine shrugged at the question and leaned back in her chair, sipping at her tea.

"Bonjour," Blanche called through the quiet house, announcing her presence long before entering in the dining room. "Will you be joining us in the mountains today?"

She entered the room in a simple tailored shirt and black pants, moving with such poise that she practically floated. Cosima looked at Delphine, eyebrows raised.

"We will have to rent all of our equipment." Delphine explained.

"That's no problem," Blanche brushed, waving her hand. "The lodge has excellent accommodations."

"Sounds fun," Cosima smiled. "I haven't been snowboarding in...years." She pushed a crumb around the rim of her the plate with her index finger. Silence settled over the three of them, the air tense with the unsaid.

"I came to tell you last night," Blanche began. She paused, allowing space for Delphine to speak, to explain and attempt to rationalize what she'd surely heard through the door. Delphine was acutely aware of every impulse to touch Cosima. "Your father explained some of the circumstances of your leaving DYAD. I wanted to apologize for making an assumption. It was unfair of me to speak as though Cosima was to blame." She looked towards Cosima and nodded, her hair pinned back and unmoving. "Cosima, I hope you will accept my apology."

"Of course," Cosima waved at her, twirling her hands in the air. "Things happen." Her palm came down to rest against Delphine's elbow, wringing at it nervously.

Blanche glanced at where they were touching, the intimacy packed into such a small gesture, and looked away quickly, feeling like an intruder. "We will leave in an hour. Plan on eating lunch with us at the lodge."

Blanche turned on her heel and left them alone once more. "See?" Cosima said nudging at Delphine's side. "It wasn't that bad." The blonde cringed and cleared the dishes.

Two hours later, the four of them stood in line for the lift. The air around them was clear and cold, tiny flakes of snow swirling with a gust of wind. Delphine held the rented poles in each hand, safety loops around her wrists.

On the ride for the first run, they sat in sets of two, Blanche and Xavier in one and Cosima and Delphine in the chair behind them. Cosima kicked the snow from the bottom of her board as they rose up the mountain, the skyline extending at their sides as they gained altitude.

The run was simple, powdery snow beneath their skis and snowboard. Delphine rode with a practiced ease. She'd taken lessons as a child and grew up on the very runs they were riding. Cosima fell back into her skill set after a few minutes, remembering how to move her legs and shift her weight to cut deeply into a turn.

The second trip up, Xavier stood next to Delphine in line and beckoned her to join him for the trip up. She glanced at Cosima, a sideways _sorry_ as the lift started. Cosima flailed her hand, thumb up, and nodded at her girlfriend. _It's okay, I've got this._

She and Blanche settled into their seat. As their feet lifted from the ground, Cosima suddenly realized that this was the first--and quite possibly the last--time she and Blanche had been alone during this trip. A variety of topics raced through her head; she wanted to defend Delphine, to be charming and funny, to beg Blanche to like her, to expose DYAD for the soul-sucking sham that it was. She opened her mouth, intending to go for charming.

"I understand you intend to do research," Blanche interjected, beating Cosima to the punch.

"Yeah, totally." Cosima kicked at her board to knock off the sticky snow. "There is a lab in Minnesota I'm interested in, though I'm not opposed to moving somewhere else. But that would mean Delphine would have to move, too."

"Perhaps she could do something else? Return to medicine? Your encouragement is essential, of course."

Cosima cleared her throat. "Delphine is a really amazing lecturer. And her research is saving lives."

Blanche nodded politely, shifted in her seat and the lift rocked slightly. "Thirty years ago I earned a degree in pharmacology. Delphine was just a baby when I began my career. Not only was I a woman in a hard science field, I was a mother as well."

"Oh, yeah, must have been rough." Cosima tiled her lips awkwardly to the side.

"It was. Delphine was watching me as she grew up--I knew this. I made career choices with this in mind." Her voice was stressed, forced. Blanche looked down at her hands, stretching warmth into her fingers inside of black mittens. "I wanted her to know that whatever her field, she could rise to the top."

"Is that why you feel so strongly about Delphine's career?"

Blanche nodded, staring ahead at the mountain. "She was working right under Aldous. She was right at the top, a breath away from running the DYAD--and at such a young age!"

Cosima coughed lightly into her elbow, the cold air harsh in her mouth. _Delphine was a pawn_ , she thought. _A brilliant, dispensable pawn._

"After last night," Blanche paused, letting the awkward moment settle. "I've learned that Delphine left for her own reasons."

Cosima considered this statement. Where was the blame usually directed at her? This felt a lot like... _understanding_. "Well no matter who is employing her, Delphine kept the drive you taught her. Non-tenured professor aren't generally allowed sabbatical. Her research is so essential and well-funded..."

"You sound proud." Blanche glanced at Cosima, their eyes meeting for the first time since the lift took off. A smile sat quietly on her mouth.

"Hell yeah, I'm proud of her!" Cosima grinned, hoping the exclamation would come off as charming, and not offensive. When Blanche's smile grew, she knew she'd hit the mark.

Their lift neared the landing platform at the top of the mountain. Both of them shifted, preparing to steer themselves and glide down to the top of the run. "Tu es prête?" _Are you ready?_

 __"__ Oui," Cosima replied, bending at the knees, butt at the edge of her seat. The front lip of her board hit the snow and they each pushed off, joining Delphine and Xavier at the run entrance.

They continued, run after run, well into the afternoon. They collectively decided to break for a late lunch, noses pink and hands in need of holding a warm beverage. Once they packed away their equipment, they met at the resort restaurant and shared a meal.

Over the food, Xavier prodded for more information about Delphine's research. She explained the complexities of treating immune system disorders, Cosima chiming in with side note explanations. Their interjections branched from one other, elaborating on, challenging, and verifying each other's words.

They rose from the meal, set to spend another few hours running the mountains. Xavier pulled Delphine aside as they left the restaurant. "In all of the complexities you just shared, I am impressed with you developed Cosima's treatment with such limited resources and information. Quite impressive, really."

Delphine froze and nodded at his compliment. Her eyes shot over to her girlfriend, who she found watching the interaction intently. Cosima hadn't missed a thing.

After finishing their time on the mountain--minimal bumps and bruises for Cosima, who was still gaining her footing--they returned home and headed to their respective rooms after a round of _bonne nuit_.

Delphine stood next to the window as Cosima finished her shower. She turned the blue card over and over in her palm, the numbers under Moni's name memorized by now. She looked up as the door opened, blue light from the bathroom streaming into the warm glow of their room. Cosima walked in, pajamas on, wringing her hair in a towel. The brunette spotted the card in Delphine's palm and leaned against the dresser.

"You know...I know you stole my file from DYAD. Katja and Jennifer's, too."

"I don't..." Delphine began, her face still, her whole body frozen.

"--Just stop." Cosima cut her off. "I saw them in your luggage a few days after you showed up in Toronto." Delphine let out a sigh, her shoulders dropped forward, caught again. "I just don't know _how_ you did it." Cosima shook her head, a smirk on her lips. "It was so much paperwork. Every test, every bit of lab work, the results of every treatment that Jennifer and Katja underwent...Someone must have noticed." Cosima cleared her throat. "But I think I figured out why you didn't tell me."

"Deniable plausibility," Delphine answered quickly, easily, as if she'd been saving that explanation for years. And she had.

Cosima nodded, dreads bobbing at her shoulders. "Yeah, I figured. But _how_?"

Delphine walked slowly towards the bed and sat at the foot. "Piece by piece for the whole three weeks. I photocopied it all and left with a stack each day." She looked away from Cosima and at her hands, picked at her cuticles. "I wanted to tell you, I did. Especially after I'd kept so much--"

"--No, I get it." Cosima interjected. "After all this time, I finally get it."

"I'm sorry."

Cosima sat down next to her, leaning her head on the blonde's shoulder, arm around her waist. "You're not going to call her, are you?"

Delphine sighed and took Cosima's hand between her palms. "I think she saw the files in my bag that day we spoke."

"So, that's a no, then."

"I may be giving myself up if I dial that number."

"You criminal, you." Cosima joked and squeezed at her hand. Delphine could feel the tension easing from her shoulders. She reached up to tug at a dread that was waving next to Cosima's cheek. "By the way, your mom totally loves me now." She moved back on the bed, pulling the pillows off and beckoning Delphine into the covers.

Delphine laughed and crawled up behind her.

"Don't laugh. She totally does! We bonded over being women in science."

Delphine scoffed. "Soon you will be trying to kiss her after sharing a few glasses of wine and make her question her sexuality."

"Ummm, ew." Cosima opened her arms and Delphine settled in beside her, arms wrapped around Cosima's torso, playing with her fingers. She felt the hand at her back dip below her shirt and run along her spine.

"Don't even think about it," Delphine warned. "Not until we are in Italy. Maybe back in Minnesota."

"Three months from now?" Cosima laughed, pulling off her glasses.

Delphine smiled along, the weight of a secret held too long off of her shoulders. A weight she'd gotten used to over the last three years. A weight that was specifically designed to protect Cosima, but no longer served a purpose. All of a sudden, gone


End file.
